Ever since I started using a tablet, I noticed my line work becoming more and more… wonky. From what I read about it, it seems to be a common problem, that’s why most artists still prefer to first sketch their drawings on paper. Still, I kept searching the internet for something that could be done to improve the quality of my lines/ellipses, etc.

It was probably 2008 when I first saw an illustration that was going to change my life – “Rain”, by the amazing Marek Okon (seriously, check him out). I found it as a wallpaper on some obscure website – a girl in a yellow raincoat, holding on to a grenade. At first glance it was only a beautifully rendered illustration… at second glance, I was literally blown away.

Colors are always relative to their environment – the very same hue can appear both dull or brilliant, depending on the surrounding colors. In the first part of the tutorial Spinning the Color Wheel – Basic Color Theory I showed you how to construct the basic color wheel (go and check it out if you missed it). In this part, we will take a look at the most common color combinations, so you have a starting point in building your palettes.

Color is probably the most important ingredient in every visual artist’s toolbox. Think of colors as the notes composing a melody – they play their music on canvas, they set the mood, they awaken the emotion in a viewer. Color combinations can be both loud and quiet, serene or frightening, warm or cold. Never underestimate their power, for they can turn even the most tranquil landscape into a nightmare, and the most frightening linework into a joke (try to visualize a pink Venom- disturbing, right?).